Dennis Priestley reflects on his career: “So all the talk about us being money grabbers and mercenaries, it couldn’t have been further from the truth – we was skint to be honest”

Two time World Championship winner Dennis Priestley shared his experiences on and off the Oche in an episode of 'Darts Legends' on the PDC YouTube channel. The former World No.1 spoke about his late start to darts and how he got into the sport he became so successful in.

“I wasn’t a serious dart player until my late twenties.”

“I had no specific thing do in my mind, when I left school my dad got me a local job with a builder and I was a bricklayer for two weeks. I never saw a brick or a trowel. I ended up packing that in and working at Park Gate Iron and Steel… I was then on the dole for six months, then went working down London with a couple of mates - I didn’t think about anything other than enjoying myself.”

After setting up a successful coal business Priestley had a cancer scare which he say's effectively got him in the world of darts.

“My outlook on life changed all together, I sold my coal business up and that enabled me to have more time to practice and play darts more. So that really took off from them circumstances.”

One major change that happened during Priestley's career was the transition of players moving from the BDO to the PDC. In the interview 'The Menace' referenced how they received backlash for the decision- but how has most certainly paid off now.

“There was 16 of us and two went back. But the other 14 of us stood fast and you’ve now got what you’ve got today people playing for half a million first prize in the World Championship, which I never thought would come so soon.”

“When me and Phil played in the first final we both shared £26,000.”

“So all the talk about us being money grabbers and mercenaries, it couldn’t have been further from the truth – we was skint to be honest.”

“We didn’t know whether it would be a success or not. We had the luck of local TV’s doing the tournaments but then SKY offered us a contract, I think the first contract was $1 million for three years. It helped finance putting the tournaments on and obviously Sky coming in was the big break.”

“We’ve never looked back since Barry [Hearn] got involved"

During his successful career Priestley had many battles with Phil Taylor and the 1996 World Championship was one that stood out in particular.

“It was a turning point in Phil’s career and a turning point in mine actually. Phil was ten years younger and he got better but I didn’t get any better. I ending up then losing so many finals to him”

Priestley spoke about how highly he regards Taylor, an opponent that he met on many occasions.

“I made him the darts monster that he is because he took it to heart that he lost so convincingly he thought I’m not going to experience this again and he practiced like a mad man”

“After ‘96’ the dynamic changed and he got on to be that one touch better, his big finishes through the 90’s was remarkable.”

Dennis Priestley then concluded by giving a brief summary about his career in darts.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of my career in darts and I often get asked if I miss it, but no I don’t miss it. I’ve had my good moments and bad moments, I tend to remember the good more than the bad which helps my wellbeing.”

To watch the whole interview click this link: